Institutes, Centers & Facilities
Blending the passion of exceptional environmental and planning researchers and scholars across disciplines, our institutes, centers, and facilities work to solve large, complex challenges facing our planet and our people. These solutions cannot be developed within a single discipline or without the dedicated focus and support of numerous experts.
From supporting cutting-edge environmental and marine science analytical research, pioneering new marine sensor technologies, revealing the mysteries of the oceans inhabitants both large and small, to supporting urban planning that ensures community sustainably for their futures, our institutes, centers, and facilities ensure a sustainable and just future for us all.
Welcome on board MassBays!
Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Partnership
Established as a National Estuary Program in 1990 under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, the MassBays National Estuary Partnership (MassBays) covers over 1000 miles of coastline, from Salisbury to Provincetown, and serves 50 coastal communities. MassBays is dedicated to protecting, restoring, and enhancing natural the resources of Ipswich Bay, Massachusetts Bay, and Cape Cod Bay. MassBays envisions a network of health and resilient estuaries that support life and communities dependent upon them. MassBays brings to SFE a unique opportunity to engage directly with communities through its strong network of local, state, and federal partnerships, prompting action and stewardship of sustainable estuarine ecosystem by convening stakeholders, providing a scientific basis for management decision, and working with decision makers to identify problems and implement solutions. Visit the MassBays website (massbays.org) to learn more about our work.
Institutes
Urban Harbors Institute:
The Urban Harbors Institute utilizes policy, scientific, planning, and management expertise to assist governments and communities in tackling the problems and issues associated with coastal areas.
Sustainable Solutions Lab @ UMass Boston:
The Sustainable Solutions Lab is a cross-college effort supporting prosperity, security, and justice for coastal communities in the face of climate change.
Institute for New England Native American Studies:
The Institute for New England Native American Studies develops collaborative relationships, projects, and programs between Native American tribes of the New England region and all of the UMass campuses so that the tribes may participate in and benefit from university research, innovation, scholarship, and education.
Centers
Large Pelagics Research Center:
Based in Gloucester MA, LPRC works closely with fishermen and using state-of-the-art technologies, LPRC conducts biological and ecological research on pelagic species including tunas, sharks, billfish, and sea turtles. We endeavor to develop scientific understanding that supports effective ecosystem-based management strategies for these highly migratory Atlantic marine species.
Center for Coastal Studies:
Based in Provincetown MA, the center's mission is to conduct scientific research with emphasis on marine mammals of the western North Atlantic and on the coastal and marine habitats and resources of the Gulf of Maine; to promote stewardship of coastal and marine ecosystems; to conduct educational activities and to provide educational resources that encourage the responsible use and conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems; and to collaborate with other institutions and individuals.
Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters
In the past, the focus of attention was on disaster preparedness. However, we require an equal focus on post-disaster, sustainable reconstruction.
Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management, Rwanda:
The CoEB is a network composed of Nodes made up of research institutions, higher learning institutions, and NGOs with a central coordinating Hub hosted at University of Rwanda (UR). Our mission is to enhance knowledge of biodiversity and natural resource management for sustainable development.
Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life:
Based at the New England Aquarium, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life expands the Aquarium’s, and so by extension the School for the Environment’s, cutting-edge applied marine research and data-driven conservation solutions. Through the work of the Anderson Cabot Center, researchers offer practical solutions to mitigate human impacts on our oceans. The Center promotes these science-based solutions in New England and beyond, building on a nearly 50-year legacy of protecting our blue planet and advocating for vital and vibrant oceans.
Center for Coastal Environmental Sensing Networks:
CESN develops "smart" sensor networks for observing interactions of coastal systems in order to help manage our coastal resources and solve current and future coastal problems.
Academic Achievement Services Center (AASC@SFE):
The Academic Achievement Services Center (AASC@SFE) fosters an academic culture of engaged and passionate learners who are co-creators and designers of their own success and their future path as environmental leaders and problem solvers.
The Coastal Processes and Ecosystems Laboratory (CaPE Lab):Capelab
The CaPE Lab research centers on the links between physical processes and coastal ecosystems, particularly within a regime of climate change, sea level rise, and increasing anthropogenic pressures.
Facilities
Nantucket Field Station:
With 107-acres of pristine marshes, fields, sandplain grasslands, upland forest, freshwater and salt water ponds, and coastal waters, the Nantucket Field Station (NFS) facilitates, supports and enables new environmental discoveries, facilitates experimentation in natural systems, and empowers the next generation of environmental stewards.
Environmental Analytical Facility:
Supporting scientific discovery, the Environmental Analytical Facility (EAF), provides access and training to scientists from all disciplines. With over 20+ different instruments from mass spectrometry to analytical microscopes, EAF provides specialized services in method development, access to cutting-edge instrumentation, and meets high-demand analytical needs of students, faculty, and staff that would otherwise be unmet.
Marine Operations:
Marine Operations is the heart of our Harbor research and educational programs. With the School for the Environment R/V Neritic and the University vessels M/V Columbia Point, R/V John F Looney, and landing craft and dock based research facilities, Marine Operations provides the platform for research and education on the water.
Living on Earth, Public Radio's Environmental News Source:
Living on Earth with Steve Curwood is the weekly environmental news and information program distributed by Public Radio International. Every week approximately 250 Public Radio stations broadcast Living on Earth's news, features, interviews and commentary on a broad range of ecological issues.
The MakerSpace:
The Makerspace at UMass Boston is a collaboration between the School for the Environment and Information Technology Services. It features 3-D printers that can be accessed by students, professors, researchers, and staff from any department.
Contact Us
School for the Environment
McCormack Hall
2nd Floor, Room 615
Phone: 617.287.7440
Email the School for the Environment